About

Ecotopia Biketour is a self-organized, international community that has been organizing a yearly bicycle tour in different regions of Europe since 1990. During the tour we visit environmental and social projects and practice forms of activism and sustainable living. We cook communal vegan food, practice consensus decision making, and share skills by doing workshops. One of our core values is to create a non-discriminatory environment. Participants are asked to give a voluntary contribution of 3–5 € per day to cover food costs, but if you cannot afford this you are welcome to join for free! Ecotopia Biketour is for anyone interested in travelling by bike, community life, DIY, an ecological lifestyle, and/or learning by experience. If this sounds good to you, feel welcome to join us!

We try to make the tour as inclusive as possible for any level of fitness or experience with bike touring. We cycle a maximum of 30–70 km per day (depending on the hills), and on average half of the days we stay in a place without cycling. Our experience is that almost everyone can manage this, but there is the possibility to shorten the distances if we discover that it is too much. People cycle in small groups or alone, at whatever speed suits them, and many people like to take it slow and take lots of breaks. A detailed route plan for the day is shared in the morning, arrows are drawn with chalk on the road at every turn, and if you get lost you can always call the Biketour phone. If you have a shitty bike, you will not be the only one, and we enjoy supporting each other if something breaks. We make sure that the last people to leave carry a toolbox, a phone and a first-aid kit in order to assist if anything goes wrong on the road.

Read more about what the Ecotopia Biketour is. If you would like to get an insight into the organisation or just ask a question, contact us.

Biketour concepts

Participation Guidelines

Because we all have different visions of life and diverse personalities, Ecotopia Biketour has developed a set of basic values which helps all of us to create similar expectations from this project.
> participation guidelines
> awareness

Self-Organisation

As we oppose any leadership or hierachical structures, the Biketour is organised in an open way where everyone can be a part of.
> how it’s prepared
> consensus
> circles

Online Tools

We try to use free and open-source software as much as possible in the preparation process. The same goes for sharing photos and videos in the group.
> online-tools
> photo-sharing

On the road

Everyone should be able to cycle with the Biketour. Therefore we keep distances low and have scouts going ahead who mark the route. Everyone can follow the signs on their own level of speed. Any tasks like scouting, cooking or pulling a trailer are shared.
> on the road
> tasks & rota
> trailers
> wildcamping

Food

All communal food on Biketour is vegan and cooked with wood on our mobile rocket stove.
Whenever it’s possible we go dumpster-diving and buy food from local farmers and small shops.
> veganism
> rocket stove
> dumpster-diving

Activities

We plan and make many activities on the tour: skill-sharing, helping at projects, joining actions and protests, bike-fixing and other events.
> skill-sharing

Latest blog posts

Art Centre Slovenia…hey ho!

kate August 13, 2013 August 26, 2013

Art Centre Slovenia, a former Border Guard House, was another gem in our trip so far…nestled somewhere between the hills and fruit trees in a secluded part on the border of west Slovenia. We spent three glorious days here helping on the project, learning about the local struggle to keep the project from the eager grips of the municipalities, sampled the local produce from pumpkin seed oil to home grown vegetables from the centre and of course the local ale around the fire. We also had time for some of our own workshops: Most of the help needed was preparing…

Eslovenia!

kbra August 12, 2013 October 28, 2013

Across the borders, now we’re in Eslovenia! crossing yesterday a beautiful border, with a heart between the two countries (Austra and Slovenia) so close you can kiss across boarders! Nice arrival in the Art Center Slovenia, where today some people helped with a human chain carrying wood for the winter, and preparing the wood shed and straw house, with nice songs and original dancing! aiwo! aiwo!

Vorwahlgrenzen

grenzblog August 12, 2013 December 3, 2014

So wie auch schon beim Ueberqueren der deutsch-tschechischen und der tschechisch-oesterreichischen Grenze haben wir uns auch heute wieder eine neue SIM-Karte fuer unser Tour-Mobiltelefon gekauft. Denn leider gibt es ja noch keine globalen oder EUropaeischen Mobilfunknetzwerke, die nicht an Grenzen die Preise schlagartig erhoehen wuerden und fuer die es ueberall Auflade-Nachschub gaebe. So muessen wir eben neue Karten von Land zu Land kaufen, um unsere Gebuehren wenigstens fuer Inlandsgespraeche klein zu halten und um ueberhaupt an Auflade-Bons zu kommen. Soweit, so “normal”: Heutzutage haben Staaten/Laender/Nationen eben nicht mehr nur ihre Flaggen, Hymnen und andere abstrakte Symbole, um Identifikation mit ihnen…

Die Grenze zur Dritten Welt

grenzblog August 11, 2013 October 6, 2013

Dritte-Welt-Laender: “Wo liegen die noch einmal?” Ohne die genauen Zahlen zu kennen, koennen wir wohl davon ausgehen, dass in Europa ca. 90% der Menschen auf diese Frage mit “In Afrika” antworten werden. Dabei ist einer der Urspruenge des Terminus “Dritte Welt” nicht geografisch gewesen, sondern politisch. Und an welchem Tag waere diese kleine, aber wichtige Geschichte besser zu bloggen, als heute, wo wir innerhalb von 24 Stunden sowohl auf den Boden der ersten, der zweiten und der dritten Welt betreten haben – und das sogar per Fahrrad! Denn als “Erste Welt” bezeichneten sich im kalten Krieg die (westlich-)kapitalistischen Staaten, waehrend…